CZ:Charter

This page is dedicated to drafting a charter for Citizendium and should only be edited by those eight Citizens elected to the drafting Committee. The talk page is also reserved for them to discuss the evolution of the document. Other Citizens, please comment on the dedicated thread at the Citizen Forum. Non-Citizens can comment in a separate thread at the non-Member Forum. The drafting period shall end when November 12, 2009 is over all around the globe.

Preamble

This Charter has been prepared to provide guidance to members of Citizendium in the workings of the encyclopaedia. The Charter outlines the working arrangements for the encyclopaedia, as well as the 'Statement of Purpose' and the specific 'Aims' of the encyclopaedia. By joining Citizendium as a member, those people agree to be bound by the conditions set out in this Charter. Non-Members and observers who attend the Citizendium forums and publicly indexed mailing lists also agree to be bound by the conditions of this Charter.

Name

The name of this organization shall be Citizendium (herein also known as CZ).

Statement of purpose

The mission of Citizendium is to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content collaboratively under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally.

The nature of the project

1. The ultimate goal of the Citizendium community, a global group of collaborators, is to create the most reliable and largest comprehensive encyclopedia that they it can.
2. The Citizendium provides the essential infrastructure and an organizational framework for the support and development of projects and other endeavours which serve this charter.
3. If an "approved" or "certified" version of an article is available, that version will be presented to the public by default; in that case, viewing unapproved versions will require further mouseclicks for the public, and such versions will be clearly labelled as unapproved, and users will be instructed not to rely upon them. Articles will carry a reliability rating, and the most reliable version will be that presented to the public by default. The rating will come with an appropriate explanation [disclaimer?]
4. The Citizendium will be a wiki. Edits will not normally be required to be approved by editors before appearing on the wiki.
5. The Citizendium will be owned and ultimately controlled by a non-profit organization.
6. The Citizendium will not sell advertisements. There may be unobtrusive non-profit sponsorship statements, but sponsors will have no editorial influence over the project, and enforceable, adequate oversight of this rule will be in place. Similarly, no grants that make specific editorial demands will be accepted.
7. The Citizendium will be devoted to simplicity, both in presentation of content and in the organization of the community. Many features as implemented by Wikipedia, such as subject categories and so-called user boxes, may be eliminated from (or never included in) the Citizendium. Special roles will not be created without excellent reason, and bureaucracy will be kept to the absolute minimum necessary.
8. The Citizendium will make and keep useful information from its projects available on the Internet free of charge, and in perpetuity.

Membership

General membership

1. The Citizendium grants membership to anyone who formally applies for it and is approved according to Citizendium policy and procedure. There shall be no membership fee.
2. No member of Citizendium shall engage in activities that are counterproductive or otherwise interfere with the advancement of the Citizendium mission as defined in this Charter. Should any member participate in such activities, they may be subject to removal from Citizendium. A member may only be removed upon the submission of a detailed complaint outlining such activities to the Constabulary.
3. No member shall engage in any activity in connection with Citizendium, or any of its members, which might violate any law in their country, incorporation, or principle place of business.
4. All members have a right to appeal their expulsion and/or non-inclusion, subject to Citizendium policy and procedure.

Policy of non-discrimination

1. The Citizendium, in accordance with applicable laws, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or status as a veteran of the Armed Forces.

Governance

Editorial Council

1. Sole management and control of Citizendium shall be vested in the Editorial Council elected by the general membership. Composition, election, terms, meetings and committees for the Council shall be further set forth in the Bylaws.

Bylaws

1. The Editorial Council shall have a set of bylaws that provide the framework for governing the operations of the organization, so long as the Bylaws are consistent with the Charter.

Funding

1. Each Citizendium member shall be responsible for their own expenses incurred in Citizendium activities.

Amendments to the Charter

1. This charter may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the citizenry called for and publicized by the Editorial Council, for the purpose of voting to amend the charter.

Provision to make financial records available

1. Financial records can be made available upon formal request by citizens. Said requests can be submitted electronically via email and must provide a detailed description of the type of records requested.